


Operation Black Cat

by Jacie



Category: NCIS
Genre: Adopted Cat, Alternate Reality, Cats, Disguise, Episode Related, Exhaustion, M/M, NCIS Secret Santa, Ninja Cat, Ninja Kitty - Freeform, Overworking, Pre-Slash, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:28:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21653764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacie/pseuds/Jacie
Summary: Tony is working himself into exhaustion. He’s on Gibbs’ team by day and working an undercover mission for Director Shepard at night. The last thing he thought he needed was a mysterious black cat slipping into his life quite uninvited. Does the cat really exist or is it just a figment of his exhausted imagination? Will Tony ever feel well-rested again or will he continue to burn the candle at both ends? And just how will this black cat fit into his life?
Relationships: Anthony DiNozzo/Jethro Gibbs
Comments: 45
Kudos: 215
Collections: 2019 NCIS Secret Santa Gift Exchange, Jacie's NCIS Secret Santa (SeSa) stories





	1. Chapter 1.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cutsycat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/gifts).



> My dearest Cutsycat,  
> When I checked my nice list this year, I saw your name was there once again 😊. I found a gift in my bag, made especially just for you, my dearest. I’ll leave it here for when you awaken. Thanks for the milk and cookies!!!  
> Ho, ho, ho and Merry Christmas!!!  
> Santa 
> 
> Some dialogue passages are from the series, either directly or paraphrased. These characters are not mine and I don’t make any money from them. I just take them out and play with them now and then before returning them to their spot on the shelf.  
> Spoilers: S4 and S5. Slightly altered take of series events, because (as most of us know) Tony and Gibbs really do belong together 😊.
> 
> Many thanks to Rose_Malmaison for her beta help! Any remaining errors are my own.

Despite his exhaustion, Tony managed a cheery smile as he wore a bright red jumpsuit bearing an airline’s logo. He was acting, portraying a baggage handler at a small airport that serviced private jets. He remembered telling Kate that acting was easy, and he was good at it. Make that, very good at it. That’s what made him so successful in his undercover assignments. He could make almost anyone believe almost anything. Perhaps that was a trait he’d learned from his father, the smooth-talking conman.

Standing aside, he wore hearing protection and was chewing caffeinated gum as he watched his target flight from Paris coming in for a landing. A limousine pulled up behind him; he barely glanced at it. He was so tired, he could barely think straight. Sleep had become hard to come by with all the hours he was currently working. The dark sunglasses he wore made it easy for him to close his eyes for a moment. The glasses had a camera, sending a live stream to MTAC where Director Shepard was watching. Even if he missed something in his report, the camera footage would pick it up.

As soon as the door of the baggage section opened to reveal a dark-haired man inside the plane, Tony hung his hearing protection around his neck and hustled over to grab the luggage. “Hey there, buddy, toss them on down. Louis Vuitton, very nice,” he said amicably. It occurred to him that he knew more about pricey luggage, shoes and suits than any normal heterosexual man should. While he was bi, he didn’t advertise it. Considering the way he teased Tim about his sexuality, Tony knew he should try harder at playing a straight man himself. When the man handing down the luggage failed to respond, Tony asked, “Not very friendly, are you?” 

The man on the plane had handed four bags down to Tony, but never said a single word, nor had he cracked a smile. Tony shrugged it off. The man was probably French and didn’t want to chat in English.

Running double-time back to the limo with the first two bags, Tony found the trunk lid had been opened. As he placed the first set of suitcases into the trunk, he saw the passengers starting to deplane. One was a bald man, the other was a very attractive blonde woman. Tony let out a long, low whistle of appreciation and grinned when he saw her smile in his direction. 

“That smile was for me,” a man’s voice said behind him. There was a hint of a British accent. 

Tony nearly jumped in surprise. It was unusual for him to not have full awareness of his surroundings, but this man had come up behind him silently, and Tony hadn’t had a clue. Damn this exhaustion! The loudness of the jet didn’t help matters any. 

As he turned around, he was in for another shock. He swallowed hard, nearly choking on his gum, as he instantly recognized the person staring back at him. He was certain the bald man was Trent Kort, a former classmate from his days at the Remington Military Academy. Although, back then, Kort had a full head of hair cut to military specs.

“There’s more luggage,” Kort said flatly. 

“Yes, sir,” Tony replied as he ran to grab the rest of the suitcases. As the man greeted the passengers who had just arrived, Tony slipped a GPS tracker into each bag and cursed under his breath. No one could have as much bad luck as he did. He wondered if he’d been recognized. Not that he and Kort had been friends at RMA, but they had certainly crossed paths more than once. 

Kort returned, staring at him again. “How long have you been here?” he asked sharply. 

“Well, long enough to put the luggage in your trunk,” Tony said jovially, with a smile. 

“How long have you been working the line? I haven’t seen you here before.”

“About five months; part-time, weekends, nights, that sort of thing,” Tony replied smoothly and without hesitation.

The man pulled a folded bill from his wallet and nodded toward the pretty blonde. “Can you keep your eyes off of her next time?”

“Probably not.”

Kort smiled as he slipped the twenty into the chest pocket of Tony’s jumpsuit. “An honest man. How refreshing.”

Tony closed the trunk and backed up, watching as the limo pulled away. Checking his watch, he muttered, “Two hours late, Gibbs is going to murder me.” 

He ran back to his car, grabbed his garment bag, and then found a men’s room where he could change in the handicap stall. “Gibbs is really going to kill me,” he muttered again as he shoved his airport getup into his gym bag and jogged back to his car. The moment he opened the door, a long-haired black cat leaped inside, and jumped into the back seat of his green Mustang.

Holding the door open, Tony flipped the seat forward and stared at the cat. “Get out! I've got enough bad luck in my life right now, and have no need for a black cat crossing my path. Out!”

The cat glanced at him with its emerald green eyes, then nonchalantly licked his paw.

“Really? Do you think this is your new super fancy cat pad on wheels? Well, it’s not. Get out! Come on, cat. I’m in a hurry.”

Losing his patience, Tony clambered into the back seat and lunged at the cat, who immediately jumped into the front seat. Tony leaned between the two front seats and reached for the cat, only to have the pesky feline jump down to the floorboard. Shaking his head, Tony got out of the back seat, flipped the seat back upright, climbed into the driver’s seat and reached for the cat, only to have it jump into the back seat again.

Just then his phone rang. 

“Where the hell are you, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asked gruffly. 

“I’ll be right there, Boss. I’m out running an errand for Director Shepard. I’ll be there in a flash, I promise.”

Tony flipped his phone closed and tried lunging for the cat in the back seat once more, only to have it hide under the passenger seat. “You want to go for a ride, Kitty? Fine with me. Let’s go for a ride.” 

Returning to the driver’s seat, Tony started his Mustang smoothly and raced back to NCIS. He nearly forgot about the cat as it remained in its hiding spot under the seat for the entire ride. Knowing Gibbs was impatiently waiting for him, Tony cracked the windows, locked the car and rushed toward the building. He didn’t have time to think about Kort right now. Or the damned black mystery cat.

As he stepped off of the elevator, he saw Agent Sacks of the FBI at his desk, smiling and chatting on his cell phone. The man had the gall to wave at Tony like they were friends. It steamed Tony that the man was sitting at his desk and in his chair. Sacks had previously done everything he could to prove Tony was a murderer and that was something he was not willing to forgive or forget any time soon. Stopping at Ziva’s desk, he asked softly, “What is the spawn of the FBI doing at my desk?”

Before Ziva could answer, Michelle Lee came around the corner and handed Tony a piece of paper. “Here’s the warrant for the serial killer’s grounds and residence. I made sure NCIS was a co-server.”

“Warrant? Serial killer? I only missed two hours.” 

Gibbs suddenly appeared around the corner, gave Tony a head slap, and then grabbed the warrant from Tony’s hands. “You snooze you lose, DiNozzo. Grab your gear.”

“I already have my gear.”

“I’ll fill you in on the way,” said Ziva as she pushed by him on the way to the elevator. 

Gibbs rode with Fornell, leaving Tony to drive the MCRT truck. He made a quick stop near his car, telling Ziva and Tim, “This will only take a minute.” 

Opening the back of the truck, he checked what they had in there that could serve as a litter box for the uninvited kitty that appeared to be taking up residence in his Mustang. With a little rearranging, he emptied out a cardboard box, lined it with a plastic trash liner, then added some sand that they’d kept in the truck since the winter. He slipped the box onto the floor of the passenger side of his Mustang, then closed up the MCRT truck and continued toward the address he’d been given. 

“What was that all about?” asked Ziva. 

Tony shook his head. “This black cat just randomly jumped into my car, and I couldn’t get it out. Who knows how long we’re going to be searching the site. I’m just hoping it’ll do its business in the box instead of on my car seats or carpet.”

“Stop! Go back!”

“What?”

“Go back,” insisted Ziva.

As Tony circled around the parking lot, back to his car, Ziva pulled out a can of Kosher tuna from her go-bag, opened it and handed it to Tony. “If we’re gone for hours, the cat will be hungry.”

Frowning, Tony sniffed the fish. “Do cats eat Mustangs?”

“I doubt it, but a hungry cat may tear up your interior trying to get out, while a sated cat will likely sleep peacefully, leaving your car intact,” she said, with a knowing grin.

“Good call, Ziva David.”

As they drove toward the residence, Ziva and Tim filled Tony in on the case, noting that Fornell and Sachs showed up at NCIS after Abby had tried to match their corpse’s fingerprints only to find the results blocked.

“We identified the dead man found in the furnace was Charles Bright. He went missing about six and a half years ago, according to Fornell,” said Ziva. 

“Abby did a digital facial reconstruction,” added Tim. “The FBI had his prints, but hadn’t identified him, not until we got a hit on Abby’s picture.”

Ziva flipped through the report file in her hands. “According to Fornell, Bright killed fourteen women over several years. The killings stopped six and a half years ago, when he suddenly disappeared.”

Tony nodded, “Someone killed our serial killer and smoked him in the furnace.”

“Fornell said he’d been working this case for twelve years,” said Tim. “They blocked the prints because they didn’t want any LEOs getting involved without alerting the FBI.”

“And once again, we’re bailing Fornell out by giving him an ID on his prime suspect.”

By the time they arrived at the serial killer’s house, Gibbs and Fornell were already at the front door, serving the warrant to Charles Bright’s widow, Karen. Tony, Ziva and Tim pulled their gear from the back of the truck, waiting for a nod from Gibbs. 

It wasn’t long after they started digging before Tony found a skull in the back yard. With the help of the FBI, they located a total of four bodies on the property. The remains were only bones, but Ducky was certain each set of remains was female, based on the width of the pelvic bones. 

After a lengthy afternoon of recovering remains, Gibbs finally allowed them to go home. Peering into the windows of his car, Tony was glad to see nothing appeared shredded. Once inside, he saw that his makeshift cat box had been used, and Ziva’s tuna had been half eaten. Craning his neck, he saw the cat was peacefully sleeping in the back of the car, warmed by the sunlight streaming in through the windows. 

“I can’t believe I’m jealous of a cat. I’m sure you had a much better day than me.”

In the fifteen minutes it took him to drive home, he thought about Trent Kort. What were the odds the man would show up at the airport while Tony was working undercover? What had he said to the airplane’s passengers? Had he mentioned that he and Tony had been classmates at the Remington Military Academy years ago? Had Trent even recognized him? He didn’t seem to. Maybe the sunglasses and jumpsuit were enough of a disguise. Had he really changed that much since he was a teen? Should he mention this to Jenny? After a few minutes of pondering, he decided not to mention it to the director unless he felt he absolutely had to.

With his car parked, Tony got out and saw the black cat dart out of the vehicle. “Finally!” he said as he went to the trunk to retrieve his bag. “Good riddance to you, Mr. Black Cat. I hope you enjoy your new neighborhood.”

Minutes later he was at his front door. The moment his door was unlocked and pushed open, the black cat suddenly reappeared and dashed inside, running past him and making a beeline to the kitchen. Tony rushed to his goldfish, Kate, picking up the bowl and protectively holding it close to his chest. “I better put you in a safe place. I couldn’t get his majesty, King Fluffy Tail, out of the Mustang earlier today. I doubt I can get him out of the apartment.” With that, he set the fishbowl into his bathtub and closed the door. A minute later, he returned to sprinkle a bit of food into the bowl.

Leaving the bedroom, he noticed he’d left the apartment door wide open and wondered if the cat had stayed or left. “Just like Schrodinger’s cat. I don’t even know if you’re here or not.” 

There wasn’t much food in his refrigerator, but he managed to toss together a salad and a sandwich. Then he decided he better bring the makeshift cat box up to the apartment just in case the cat was still hiding there. “Damn thing is like a ninja,” he mumbled as he went down to retrieve the box and the rest of the tuna.

It had been a long, tough day. He knew he didn’t really want to sit home alone watching a movie. Perhaps he could visit his mark, Jeanne Benoit. He hadn’t been comfortable starting a sexual relationship with her, but Jenny had encouraged him. Jeanne had clearly wanted to sleep with him, and once they started, he’d convinced himself it was a physical need. Between his day job with Gibbs, and working the nightshift undercover for the director, he didn’t have the time or energy to actually date someone else. Jeanne filled a void. In her, he had someone to talk to and to sleep with. He didn’t want to think about the end of the case, when he’d have to cut her loose and walk away. Knowing she’d be hurt, he pushed the thought aside. There was a job to be done.

In truth, he’d found that he liked Jeanne. She was smart. Definitely smart enough to become a doctor. She wasn’t at all unattractive. In fact, he really liked her eyes. They weren’t quite as amazing as Gibbs’ eyes, but pretty close. 

Gibbs’ eyes, on the other hand, were piercing. When their eyes met, he was certain Gibbs could see straight into his soul, which was the reason why he tended to avoid meeting those eyes of late. Director Shepard had sent Tony on this deep undercover mission while Gibbs was taking the summer off in Mexico. Now that Gibbs had returned, Jenny, Director Shepard, had insisted there was no reason Gibbs needed to know about the La Grenouille case.

When Tony was the team lead over the summer, he could slip out to call or visit Jeanne without anyone asking him about it. Jenny knew and approved. If Ziva or Tim had noticed, they didn’t say anything. As far as he knew, they just thought he was off meeting with Ducky, Abby or the director. But now that Gibbs was back, his absences and tardiness were grating on the man’s nerves, as Tony was well aware of. He knew Gibbs was growing more frustrated with him each day.

As Tony drove over to Jeanne’s apartment, he made note of his current issues. 

There was his old RMA classmate that showed up today, apparently with some connection to La Grenouille. Tony would need to figure out what Trent’s position was and whether or not he remembered him from RMA. Maybe he seemed slightly familiar and Trent would figure it out over time. Shit! Now he’d have to try to avoid Trent, or wear better disguises. 

And there was Jeanne. He was using her and she didn’t have a clue. It felt good to be with her, but he knew it wasn’t going to last. At some point, it would come to an end and it would end badly. There was no other way it could play out. 

Gibbs was an issue. He’d left Tony in charge when he walked out on them, but now he was back. Even though Tony was following the Director’s orders, he was pretty sure going after La Grenouille was a personal vendetta, at least to some extent. Why didn’t she want Gibbs to know about the mission? Was it because Gibbs would push back? Call her on the unprofessional conduct of using her position to go after La Grenouille for some personal reason? What was her beef with the man anyway? He was certain there was a reason behind her zeal for catching this particular arms dealer, but Tony didn’t have the time or energy to dig into it, at least not at the moment. Maybe the next time Jeanne fell asleep, Tony could sneak over to use her computer and do some snooping. 

The director was a whole other issue. She’d been rather friendly and supportive of Tony while he ran the team, and maybe even a little too flirty. She’d indicated he’d done a great job and, as a reward, she was willing to give him his own team. That wasn’t an option at the moment as far as Tony was concerned. Gibbs still had some minor memory issues, and Tony was certain that neither Ziva nor Tim were ready to step into his shoes just yet. Ziva couldn’t and shouldn’t be the second in command as she wasn’t even a US citizen. Tim was still way too green.

Lastly, there was the pesky feline issue. It wasn’t like Tony had laced his car with catnip. Why the heck had the cat snuck into his car and refused to leave? Why did it then follow him up to his apartment? Was it even still in his apartment? He hadn’t seen it since he’d left the door open; maybe it snuck back out the door when he wasn’t paying attention. Who was he kidding? Of course the stealthy ninja cat was there to stay. It had just found a nice dark hiding spot to lie low for the night. Tony had left the litter box and half can of tuna out in hopes that his apartment wouldn’t be torn up whenever he returned home. 

Taking a slight detour, Tony stopped by a pet shop and purchased a plastic litter box, litter, scoop, water and food dishes, a green leather collar with silver stitching, and enough cat food to last a while. He discussed his predicament with the clerk, who suggested he buy a cat carrier and take the cat to the vet to be checked. It most likely had an identifying chip. Tony grudgingly added a carrier to his pile and rolled his eyes when he saw the total. It was a lot to spend, especially on a cat that he wasn’t planning to keep. At least he’d thought to move Kate into the bathroom and close the door. He was relatively certain the cat couldn’t get in there. Except it was a pretty smart, stealthy cat. Maybe it could open doors, he thought with some alarm. 

When he mentioned that to the clerk, he was given the option of buying a larger aquarium for the fish, which was really way more room than Kate needed. The other option was a screen he could put over the top of her bowl. He accepted that option. The screen was only a buck.

Before he arrived at Jeanne’s apartment, he’d decided that Ninja Kitty would be a good name for the black cat, with its piercing green eyes and stealthy ways. He had to admit, it was quite a spectacularly handsome cat. Perhaps they were meant to be together.


	2. Chapter 2.

The next morning, Tony left Jeanne’s apartment in a hurry. When she’d asked if he wanted to stop somewhere for coffee or breakfast, he shook his head, pulled on his shoes, kissed her quickly and dashed out the door, using the excuse that he was late to an early morning meeting. 

He’d left that black ninja cat in his apartment unattended all night. And if he didn’t get a move on, he was going to be late for work again. And this time, it wouldn’t be because he overslept. 

His stomach growled halfway to his house, so he stopped and grabbed a cup of coffee and a donut. Although he hated having to eat in his car, he knew that was his only chance to have a quick bite. Glancing at his watch, he cursed. Time was against him.

Thankfully, other tenants had already left for work, so he found a parking space fairly close to the building. Digging into his trunk, he grabbed all of his pet store purchases and raced up to his apartment. He half-hoped the cat was gone, or that it was just a hallucination in the first place. Cracking open his door, he peeked inside, then entered slowly. 

“Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty,” he called. Dumping the goods in his kitchen, he noticed the makeshift litter box he’d made had been used again, and the can of tuna was on the other side of the kitchen floor and completely empty; licked clean. Unless he was capable of opening and closing the front door or a window, the cat was definitely still around his apartment somewhere. 

Tony hurriedly set up the plastic litter pan, cursing as he accidentally spilled a bit of the litter onto his floor. “The kitchen is not a good place. I can’t be smelling cat crap while I’m eating. Bathroom!” Racing through the apartment, he couldn’t help but notice that his bathroom door was standing ajar. “Oh, no, Kate! No, no, no.”

Moving swiftly into the room, he peered into the tub to find the black cat lying beside the fishbowl, neatly curled up around it. Inside the glass bowl, Kate was swimming about like always, perfectly fine and appearing suitably happy and content.

Tony kept an eye on the fish and the cat as he shoved the litter box under the extended counter he imagined was designed for a lady to use as a makeup table. He considered getting a little curtain to give the cat some privacy, or at least to block the view of the box so he didn’t have to look at it all the time. And he’d need to buy one of those air fresheners. Maybe two or three of them. 

Grabbing Kate’s bowl, he carried it back to the kitchen and fastened the screen around the top of it, then fretted about where to put the bowl. If he put it up high, the cat could knock it down and break it. If he put it down low, maybe the stealthy kitty would get the screen off. Then again, the cat had managed to get inside the bathroom and didn’t appear to cause any injury to the fish. Tony decided the tub was as safe a place as anywhere. Trying to outsmart the cat, he decided to leave six inches of water in the tub. That should keep the cat out of the tub even if it could open the door.

Checking his watch, Tony shook his head. “Gibbs is going to do worse than kill me.”

Just when Tony thought he might actually get a night off, Jenny called saying she needed to speak to him before noon. Of course she did, and most likely that meant she wanted him to do something for the undercover op. With his recent luck, she would probably be giving him another late night assignment. Once he arrived at work, he sprinted from the car up to the office, read his email, then mentioned the director had summoned him up to MTAC. 

Jenny had the tech display the still captures that had been gleaned from the airport footage recorded by Tony’s glasses-camera. There it was again, Kort’s face staring right at him. But this time it was only an image, not the real thing so painfully close and real. 

“We have been tracking the three of them. They have a reservation tonight at the Windsong restaurant. Have you heard of it?”

“Yeah. I’d love a chance to sample their food. I’ve heard great things, but it is way out of my price range.”

The director smirked and turned to face him. “You won’t be inside.”

“No?”

“We can’t take a chance on them recognizing you from the airport. The reservation is for four people. I want to know who they’re meeting.”

A sigh escaped Tony. He was never going to catch up on his sleep. “Good thing I didn’t have plans tonight.”

“You do now. Make sure they don’t recognize you. I’ll be here, watching.”

Turning quickly, Tony nodded and returned to the bullpen to catch up on their current case. 

Since the director didn’t want him inside the establishment, Tony thought he could play a street musician, strumming the guitar outside the restaurant. He couldn’t bear just sitting in his car with a pair of binoculars. As tired as he was, he would fall asleep in his car for sure. No, standing on the street and singing while strumming a guitar was a much better option. Plus, he could put out the open guitar case and maybe make a few bucks. It’s not like he was getting paid any overtime as he was on salary.

Throughout the day, he found the time to sneak down to a storage room where they kept a wide variety of confiscated and donated items. He found a knit cap, a wig with long brown hair, a fake soul patch and a guitar. He wasn’t sure the guitar was going to find its way back to NCIS storage. It was pretty nice and he missed having one. 

When Jeanne called, he brushed her off, telling her he had to work late. There weren’t enough hours in the day for him to do his job, work undercover, spend time with Jeanne and get enough sleep. It felt like he’d started juggling with three balls and people kept throwing more into the loop. Now he had too many to keep them all in the air at once without dropping any. It was only a matter of time before something got away from him and everything in his life would come crashing down around him.

It was already dark when he pulled up close to the restaurant. At least they knew what time their marks’ reservation was for. Tony made certain he was in a good position before Trent and his associates showed up. 

Rather than singing actual songs, Tony just strummed the guitar and sang out his observations in reggae style. Jenny was in his earwig, chuckling and asking if he was going to sing the whole thing. It was the only way he could focus on the targets and remain awake. 

It was a relief when the man meeting their marks finally appeared. At least he showed up, even if he was fifteen minutes late. The man seemed to have a lot to say, probably apologizing profusely for being late. Perhaps he had called. Tony had seen both Trent and the other man, Martin Quinn, on their cell phones. The woman, who they had identified as Regine Smidt, had opened a compact at the table, checking the mirror while her cohorts were chatting on their phones. 

Tony made sure to hold steady so they could capture a good image of the man who joined them. All of a sudden, Trent appeared to be staring directly at him through the window. Shit! He should have mentioned Kort to Jenny. This was not good. In fact, it could be disastrous. 

“Jenny, I think I’ve been made,” he sang. “Do you see what I see?”

“He’s probably just checking his reflection in the window.”

Tony wasn’t sure. Kort was staring in his direction for an awfully long time. What did he have to check in a mirror-image anyway? He was bald, so he sure wasn’t checking out his own hair. Had he finally remembered Tony? If Kort hadn’t recognized him face-to-face at the airport, would he actually recognize him from across the street, in the dark, through a window and while he was wearing a disguise?

Although Kort seemed to be staring for a long time, Tony hoped Jenny was correct, that he was staring at his own reflection, or perhaps surreptitiously checking out someone else. Someone other than Tony.

Minutes later, Jenny let him know the new guest was identified as Parviz Najar, an arms dealer. That made sense since he was meeting with people who worked for La Grenouille, a known international arms dealer. Tony still wondered what Kort’s connection was, and why he was the only one NCIS had not been able to identify so far. Not only was Gibbs going to kill him for his tardiness and exhaustion, but Jenny was also going to kill him when she found out that he’d gone to school with Kort and had recognized him at the airport. He was already kicking himself for withholding that information, but felt it was too late to bring it up now.

When the people he was watching left the restaurant and disappeared around the corner, Tony returned to his car. He checked his cell phone and saw that he had missed two calls from Jeanne. He didn’t have the strength to see her tonight. Shaking his head, he decided he’d try to find time to call her the next day. 

It was a blessing to him to finally arrive home. He found a place to settle the guitar. It’s not like anyone would notice if it wasn’t returned. Scooping up his tips from the nights, he tossed them into a small bowl. He’d take the change to the bank later and let them count it. Closing his eyes, he mused about what he could spend the money on. With a sigh, he figured it would be going toward cat food and treats. It probably wasn’t more than thirty dollars, but that would feed the cat for a while.

Wanting to pamper himself, he grabbed a bottle of wine and a wineglass, then went into his bathroom. There was Kate in her bowl, still immersed in six inches of water in the tub. Ninja Kitty had opened the door again and was sitting on the edge of the tub watching the fish swim in her bowl. 

Tony patted the cat’s head and smiled when it purred. He then moved Kate’s bowl to the sink and eyed the cat. “This is Kate. She is not sushi for you.” 

The cat head-butted Tony’s thigh.

Once he'd drained the cold water that was in the tub, Tony refilled it with a comfortable bubble bath, dumped his undercover disguise and slipped into the soothing warmth. He set the glass of red wine at the corner of the tub after taking a few sips.

“This is nice,” he said as he noticed Ninja Kitty had taken up residence on the closed toilet seat. “I hope you’re enjoying your new home, Cat. I’m still not sure if you’re staying. I have to take you to the vet, when I have time, to see if someone has a wanted poster out for you.” Because of course, this stealthy cat would have a wanted poster rather than a lost pet poster. “You’re probably secretly a cat burglar. I wouldn’t be one bit surprised. Might even be a reward for turning you in.”

An hour later, the water had become too cool for Tony to be comfortable in the tub any longer. Plus, he’d downed three glasses of wine. It was nearly ten, so it seemed a fine time to go to bed. 

Tony dried himself off, rinsed out the tub, then let the water run until it was about six inches up the side of Kate’s bowl. He sprinkled a bit of fish food for her, then donned his bathrobe and returned the wine bottle to the kitchen, scooped out the litter box, and fed Ninja Kitty his dinner. The cat allowed Tony to pet him while he ate.

“Everyone keeps telling me a need a real pet. One I can snuggle with. You seem to be making yourself right at home. I guess you can stay if no one is looking for you. At the very least, you can spend the night here. 

As was his custom, Tony tossed his bathrobe aside and slipped into bed naked. It wasn’t long before he realized Ninja Kitty had joined him in bed, resting his furry face against Tony’s bare shoulder.

“Good night, Ninja Kitty. Good night, Kate.”


	3. Chapter 3.

The luxury jet was a nice touch. It almost made up for how hard Tony had been working. It was also amusing to mess with the arms dealer he and Ziva had snatched off of the street earlier in the day, one Eli Lisack, who had been tagged with the code name Goliath. They had played him, tricking him into giving them information on a weapons program called ARES that was being offered for sale by the creator, Charles Harrow, who had retired a few years prior.

The flight had gone well. Even Gibbs was smiling, with the information they had gleaned. They’d obtained Goliath’s username and password, which allowed Tim and Abby to access the laptop he had been carrying when Tony and Ziva had abducted him off the street. They had verified that Harrow was indeed the one who had offered ARES up for sale. 

Tony had slipped away for a couple of minutes to call Jeanne. He’d been talking to her when Gibbs suddenly appeared beside him, giving him the famous glare of doom. 

“Gotta go,” he said quickly, shutting down his phone and briskly walking back to his desk. “Where are Tim and Ziva?”

“Picking up Harrow.”

McGee’s computer started beeping, so Tony went over to check out what was causing the alarm. “Looks like one of McGeek’s algorithm thingies got a name match off Harrow’s emails and cell calls.” The hair rose on Tony’s neck when he saw the name. He couldn’t erase it. He couldn’t ignore it. He certainly couldn’t hide it from Gibbs who was looking at him impatiently. Clearing his throat, Tony glanced over to his boss. “Trent Thomas Kort, thirty-seven years old, British national. He’s on the FBI’s arms dealer watch list. They believe he’s recently started working for the international arms dealer known as La Grenouille, fronting operations in Paris, Nairobi and Cape Town.”

With a few clicks, Tony brought up an image from the FBI, it was clearly Trent. Staring at it, he wondered just how high up the man was in La Grenouille’s organization. He’d thought Trent must be a low man on the totem pole, perhaps a personal assistant, but the FBI had him pegged as La Grenouille’s right-hand man.

“Do you know him?” Gibbs asked forcefully.

“What? No. It’s just, I kind of dig his blue Hawaiian shirt. Pretty sharp. I could see myself wearing that on vacation.” Knowing Gibbs as well as he did, he could tell the man wasn’t buying his ruse. He could ascertain that Tony had recognized the man in the photo. Squirming in his seat, Tony began trying to think of an excuse to leave the bullpen. “I’m going to go check on something,” he said quickly as he rose to his feet and immediately darted out of Gibbs’ view. He could feel Gibbs’ eyes on him as he practically ran to the elevator.

It was odd that Cynthia wasn’t at her desk, so Tony pushed into the director’s office and instantly wished he hadn’t as Jenny had her shirt pulled up while Cynthia appeared to be fixing her bra.

“Sorry. Cynthia wasn’t at her desk and…”

“You decided to barge right in, Agent DiNozzo?” asked Director Shepard.

“That should hold until you get home, Director,” Cynthia said as she pulled Jenny’s shirt down.

“Thank you, Cynthia.” After her assistant left the room, Jenny continued, “I broke a bra strap and had Cynthia get me a safety pin to hold it in place until I get home. I don’t know why I’m even telling you.”

“To ease an awkward situation?” 

Director Shepard smiled seductively. “We know each other so well, there are no awkward moments between us.”

That really made Tony wish he hadn’t barged into her office, especially when she was practically half-naked. But now that he officially knew Trent’s name, he had to tell her. Nodding to her computer, he asked, “Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” she replied, her fingers drifting across his arm as he passed by. 

Shrugging her off, Tony stepped sideways to leave some distance between them. Using the keyboard, he brought up an image of Harrow. “That’s Charles Harrow, he designed ARES, which is a cruise missile targeting system.”

“I’m familiar with it. Has he come out of retirement?”

“In a way. He’s offering ARES for sale in a one-time auction, going to the highest bidder. He must have kept a copy when he retired.”

“Is La Grenouille one of the bidders?”

“We have the laptop we took off an arms dealer known as Goliath. Tim used a program to pull names from the emails and that led us to Harrow. La Grenouille is one of the bidders. Goliath made a bid, but it looks likes La Grenouille is the high bidder at the moment.”

“How did we get this information?”

“Mossad gave Ziva intel on Goliath. We picked him up this morning, along with his laptop.”

“I’ve heard of him, he’s also Israeli, right?” she asked, closing the distance between them again.

“Yes. There were rumors he was bidding on a top-secret Navy program, so we picked him up. We’re holding him downstairs on a visa violation. Abby has his laptop. And we got Harrow’s name from him. Tim was running a program to pull information from Harrow’s cell phone calls and emails for connections to known arms dealers and this guy came up.” Tapping a few more keys, Tony brought up the image of Trent Kort. “We got a name off an FBI watch list, he’s Trent Kort, British national.”

Jenny’s eyes widened as she focused on the screen, suddenly all business again. “You captured his image weeks ago at the airport. Why are we just getting a hit now?”

“I don’t know. I ran it against all agency watch lists back then, including the FBI, and got no hits at all. Today, he came right up.”

“It doesn’t matter. We have him now. This is good. Very good.”

“And it’s bad. I had to lie to Gibbs.”

“You’re working an undercover mission, so your ass is covered. It’s need to know.”

Shaking his head, Tony responded, “It’s not that. He knows I’m lying to him. I can tell by the look in his eyes.”

“Did he put Harrow under surveillance?” 

“No, he sent Ziva and Tim to pick him up.”

Jenny immediately clicked open her intercom. “Cynthia, get Agent Gibbs up here right away.” 

She hadn’t even finished her sentence when Gibbs entered her office. He eyed both Jenny and Tony. “You sent for me?”

“Call Ziva and McGee off,” she demanded firmly.

“Off? They’re bringing in a man who is offering to sell a top-secret Navy program to multiple international arms dealers.”

“Call them off now, Agent Gibbs. That is an order.”

“Okay,” he responded as he reached for his phone.

“I’m going to go finish up my report,” said Tony as he headed for the door, leaving the two of them to work through whatever it was they needed to work through.

It wasn’t long before Gibbs and Director Shepard appeared in the bullpen, walking together. On seeing Tony at Tim’s desk, they ventured over to see what he was working on.

“Find something else, DiNozzo?” asked Gibbs.

“We got a match on another arms dealer. This one is a woman who uses the code name Black Rose. Her real name is Rose O’Leary.”

Gibbs leaned over him to get a better look at the woman’s image. Tony could feel the hot breath on his neck. It gave him an odd mixture of being terrified of Gibbs’ wrath, and of being totally turned on by the man. Rolling the chair even closer to the desk, he hoped his boss wasn’t aware of the sudden tenting in his pants and he certainly hoped Jenny didn’t see it and think it had anything to do with her.

“What’s her bid?” asked Gibbs, his lips nearly on Tony’s ear.

“Less than La Grenouille, eighteen million.”

Gibbs nodded and began walking away. “Unless her bid is in euros.”

Tony went back to the email. “Dollars, it’s in dollars,” he said confidently. Once Gibbs was out of earshot, Tony looked up at Jenny and added, “Do you think he’ll ever forgive us?”

Ignoring his question, she began leaving and ordered, “Send me a copy of everything you have.”

Tony sighed and he gathered up the electronic files and sent them to her email address. “Yeah, I don’t think so either.”

Hoping to make some peace with his boss, Tony trailed after him to the men’s room, catching him at the urinal. It was uncomfortable, but he didn’t want to let things go and have Gibbs upset with him for the foreseeable future.

“I’m really sorry, Boss. I never wanted to lie to you. The assignment came up when you were gone. When you came back, she ordered me not to tell you.”

After washing his hands, Gibbs wadded up the paper towels he’d used and tossed them into the trashcan just before walking out the door. “It’s covered. You were following orders, DiNozzo. I would have done the same thing.”

Tony stared at the door that had closed softly after Gibbs’ abrupt exit. “So we’re all good now, Boss?” Tony asked in the empty room. “Because that’s what I was hoping for.” 

He felt relieved it was out in the open now. There was no more need for him to hide his relationship with Jeanne. He assumed the director had filled Gibbs in on the full assignment. At least she had made him aware that she had Tony working on an undercover case. Maybe she hadn’t mentioned Jeanne. How did things get so complicated?

Things only got more complicated when he returned to the bullpen. Gibbs was heading for the elevator, with Director Shepard at his side. 

“Grab your gear, DiNozzo.”

Tony grabbed his bag, then raced after the pair. Catching up to them in the parking lot, he got into the back seat of the dark sedan just moments before Gibbs tore out of the Navy Yard. 

They rushed to the scene to find that Ziva and Tim had chased Harrow up a flight of stairs, which had caused the older man to suffer a fatal heart attack. While Tim returned to the Navy Yard with Gibbs and Shepard, Ziva and Tony were sent back to Harrow’s house with his keys to try to find the pirated copy of ARES he was selling.

When they got there, they found that his house was chock-full of computer gear and gadgets. “This would be the best amusement park ever for McGeekerson,” said Tony as he eyed the floor to ceiling rows of equipment. 

There were rooms full of computers, wires, chips, drives and everything else imaginable. The pair spent the afternoon boxing up every hard drive, disc and computer they could find and hauled everything back to the Navy Yard for Tim and Abby to go through.

After dropping the items off at Abby’s lab, the pair returned to the bullpen where they found Ducky explaining to Gibbs and Director Shepard that he had confirmed that Harrow had indeed passed away from cardiac arrest. “Mr. Harrow was a victim of a Western diet and the belief that he could run up all those stairs. He was not in the best of shape physically, due to what I believe was a lack of daily exercise and an unhealthy diet of fatty red meats.”

Tony had a feeling he wasn’t going to get any sleep at the end of the day. That became a certainty when Tim located an email acknowledging that La Grenouille had the winning bid, and indicating Harrow had set up a meeting that night to exchange ARES for twenty million dollars’ worth of diamonds. They all thought they’d missed the meeting until Gibbs pointed out the coordinates were in Canada, not Greece.

“We have five hours,” announced Director Shepard. “I’ll arrange a jet; wheels up in forty-five minutes. The stars are aligning. We’re going to get him. Finally.”

Despite Gibbs pointing out that Canada was not under US jurisdiction, Director Shepard would not be deterred, commandeering Gibbs and his team to accompany her across the border. She’d decided that they would send Ducky to the meet, pretending to Harrow. They were of a similar age and build. 

Tony was glad the Director allowed him to go home for a change of clothing before leaving for the mission. It humored him that Tim was stuck at work, trying to give Ducky a crash course on ARES while Abby put the finishing touches on Ducky’s makeover. 

Once again, Ninja Kitty had opened the bathroom door and had taken up residence on the closed toilet lid as he watched Kate swimming in her bowl, which was surrounded by bathwater. 

“Come on. Time for food.”

The cat didn’t need to be asked twice. Leaping off of the toilet, he scampered to the kitchen and sat beside his food bowl, waiting for Tony to fill it. Once the cat was fed, Tony topped off the two water bowls, even though it occurred to him that with the bathtub filled with six inches of water, he didn’t have to worry about the cat running out of water any time soon. He also scooped the litter again and sprinkled a bit of food for Kate. He made a mental note to ask Hillary, the girl who fed Kate when he was gone, if she would mind taking on cat duties, too. 

“Only if the vet doesn’t find a chip,” he reminded the cat.

Ninja Kitty looked up from his dish long enough to meow, then went back to eating.

Once they boarded the jet, he was read in on the assignment. Tony and Ziva would take position on a roof bearing high-powered rifles, while Director Shepard, Tim and Gibbs would be in a surveillance van, using cameras to watch over Ducky, and an earwig so Tim could tell Ducky what to say about the computer and the program. During their flight, Tim continued to brief Ducky on ARES.

It was dark by the time their jet landed. Ducky had been made over to a decent likeness of Harrow, even carrying a driver’s license Abby had whipped up before they had departed. Carrying the laptop Tim had given him, Ducky got into the borrowed car Jenny had arranged for their use in Canada.

Dressed in dark clothing, Tony and Ziva took their place on top of a building overlooking the landing strip, and set up their rifles. Tony stared through his scope, trying not to yawn and thinking about how many favors Jenny must have called in to make this all happen in such a short amount of time.

The target jet arrived about half an hour after they’d set up in their positions. The plan was for Director Shepard to send Ducky on his way once the jet had landed. 

A short time later, Tony saw Ducky arrive at the security gate where he was stopped by Martin Quinn. Tony recognized the man from the advance party he’d met at the airport in DC when the man had flown in from Paris. Quinn checked the trunk and back seat before sending Ducky over to the jet.

Trent Kort was just outside the plane, waiting to meet Mr. Harrow. Tony was still curious as to what was going on with Kort. How did he wind up as an arms dealer? Or at least, working for one? And how did he not recognize Tony? 

He and Ziva remained quiet as they watched the action unfold. They had earwigs too. They could hear Ducky asking to get out of the cold, followed by Trent waving his cell phone as a signal for La Grenouille to step out of the shadows. Apparently, La Grenouille had already been in Canada and had driven to the airport, arriving shortly after Dr. Mallard drove in.

“Did he just snap a picture of Ducky?” Tony asked softly, under his breath. The hair on his neck bristled again. 

They all watched as Ducky sat in the car with La Grenouille, who had Quinn bring them an expensive bottle of cognac to enjoy while the pretty blonde, Regine, checked out the laptop Ducky had handed her. It made Tony nervous that Trent was on his phone. Who the heck was he calling?

Twenty minutes later, Regine appeared at the door, nodding her approval to Trent, who relayed the message to La Grenouille.

“They’re starting their engines,” said Tony. “They’ll be leaving soon.”

Ziva and Tony watched as the man said good night to Ducky and began walking away from the vehicle. They waited for a green light to shoot La Grenouille, but the order never came.

“We are about to lose the target,” Ziva said into her mic as La Grenouille started climbing the stairs to the plane. “Five seconds and he will be gone!”

“Stand down, Archangel! Stand down,” was the order Director Shepard gave as La Grenouille disappeared from view.

Tony lowered his weapon and watched as Trent approached Ducky’s vehicle, carrying a small satchel containing the diamonds. They could hear his voice over the earwigs. “Tell me you got the message.”

“What message is that?” Ducky asked innocently.

Reaching in through the car’s window, Kort grabbed Ducky’s earwig. They all heard Director Shepard sternly say, “Yes, I got the damned call.” She was fuming, Tony could tell. 

Even more surprising, Kort handed over the diamonds and said, “Here are the diamonds, Dr. Mallard.”

Tony pounded his fist on the wall. “Shit!” Trent had taken Ducky’s photo and had someone ID him. He had to have someone with a security clearance to be able to ID Dr. Mallard that fast. How deep did this go? How many government agents did La Grenouille have on his payroll? 

Everyone on the team was silent as they watched the plane take off, leaving more questions than answers.

It was a quiet trip back to DC. Tony slept most of the way. He was glad when he finally arrived home and was able to relax as he watched an old movie. Ninja Kitty jumped up on the couch beside him, then curled up in his lap. As his fingers stroked the feline, Tony mentioned, “Petting a cat is supposed to relieve stress. Don’t forget to add that to your resume, Mr. Cat Burglar.”

The next day he learned that both Trent Kort and Charles Harrow were working a deep undercover mission for the CIA, using their real names in order to sell the arms dealer into believing they had the real ARES program. In reality, Harrow had altered the program. If any of the arms dealers actually got their hands on it, anyone attempting to use it would cause the software to send instructions to any cruise missiles within range to home in on the fake ARES program and thus would destroy the software and whoever was using it. 

At least now, Tony knew how Kort was able to ID Ducky so fast.


	4. Chapter 4.

Tony was happy when Saturday rolled around. He’d told Jeanne that he was going out of town for a conference. In reality, he simply wanted a day off. Actually, he needed a day off. Ninja Kitty had been living with him long enough that he’d had to buy more cat food. 

It had taken him that long to schedule a vet appointment outside of his working hours. Taking the advice of the pet store clerk, he’d left the carrier out in plain view, with the door propped open so it couldn’t close. He’d lined the bottom with a small, folded throw that was very soft, and he’d tossed a catnip toy inside. It worked like a charm, because the cat went into the carrier like a pro first thing in the morning.

At the vet’s office, Tony mulled over whether he hoped to find the cat’s true owner, or not. He was getting used to having the cat around. Even when Ninja Kitty snuck out the door and followed him down to the mailbox, he always returned to Tony’s apartment. At night, the cat would purr and snuggle in bed with him.

“The cat is chipped,” announced the vet as Tony’s heart sank a little. “He’s still currently registered to an adoption agency, which is not uncommon. I called and they were able to give me information about him. For starters, his name is Pip. His owner passed away several months ago. Her son tried taking the cat, but said the cat was an escape artist and constantly ran out the door. They couldn’t keep track of him and thought he was not a good match for their family, so they put him up for adoption. He’s been adopted out twice, and both times, he ran away. I spoke to the head of the pet adoption center and she said the latest adopter does not want the cat back and has already adopted two other cats and doesn’t have room to take Pip back. In short, she said he’s yours if you want him.”

Tony stared at the cat, who blinked his green eyes. “Oh wow.”

“He is a very beautiful cat.”

Tony nodded. “He is. He does run out my door, but he always comes back. Sometimes he’ll go to my car. Other times, he goes down to the lobby. But he always comes back.”

The vet reached out and patted Tony’s shoulder. “He seems to be a very special cat, one who won’t settle for living with just anybody. Apparently, he has chosen you to be his life companion. It truly is an honor to be chosen by an animal.”

“I guess I’ll keep him then. And so far, he hasn’t eaten my goldfish. Do I need to reach out to the adoption center?”

The vet smiled. “No. They already have two adoption fees for the year. Mrs. Heatherton said she is happy to let you have him for free as long as you give him a good home. I can send her your contact information so she has it on file.”

“I’m not home that much, but find it’s nice to have him there when I am home. I just need to find someone to feed him when I have to work late. I’ve been leaving out dry food for him and so far that’s worked out pretty well.”

“He appears to be quite happy and healthy. He’s also up to date on his shots.”

Pip happily returned to the carrier, when the door was opened, and settled down on the soft throw like a pro. 

Tony reached out and shook the vet’s hand. “Thanks, Doc.”

Before going home, he stocked up on cat food and litter, now that he’d accepted that the cat would be staying with him permanently. Pip didn’t complain at all at being left in the carrier, inside the car, for a few minutes. 

Even when they arrived back at the apartment and Tony opened the carrier door, Pip remained inside, happy to be settled on the soft throw.

“Suit yourself, Pip,” said Tony. But the moment he opened the apartment door, the black cat shot out of the carrier like a cannonball and disappeared down the hallway. Tony sighed deeply. Easy come, easy go.

He saw that Pip stopped at the end of the hallway, near the elevator. 

“So, what are you doing, Cat? Going up or going down?”

Pip mewed softly and sat down. Tony shook his head and walked to the elevator only to have Pip follow him. His plan was to go visit Hillary, who was the fourteen-year-old girl who had taken care of Kate as needed for the past two years. 

Pip happily followed him and sat beside him as he knocked on the apartment door. Hillary’s mother answered. 

“Tony, how good to see you. And what a gorgeous cat,” she exclaimed as Pip rubbed against Tony’s leg. “Is he yours?”

“Yes, I have adopted a cat and was wondering if Hillary would be interested in caring for him as needed, like she does for Kate.”

“I’m sure she would. Let me call her. Hillary, Mr. DiNozzo is here.”

Hillary’s eyes widened when she saw Pip. “He’s so pretty! What’s his name? May I pet him?”

“Sure, he enjoys having his ears and chin scratched. His name is Pip. Would you mind feeding him when I work late?”

“I’d love to! Can I play with him, too?”

“If you can get him to play, you certainly may,” Tony said as he squatted down and scratched the top of Pip’s head. “I have a few toys in the apartment for him.”

Pip purred as Hillary pet him. 

“I keep dry kibble out for him and feed him half a can in of wet food in the morning and the other half in the evening. If you want to stop by sometime, I can show you where everything is.”

“I can go now. It won’t take long, right?”

The girl followed him back to his apartment, quite impressed that Pip followed along with no leash. 

“Don’t let him fool you,” Tony said. “He’s an escape artist. And more. He can open my bathroom door. That’s where I’ve been keeping Kate. And he tends to sneak out of the front door when you least expect it. If he gets out, don’t worry about it. He always comes back. At least he has, so far.”

He showed her where he kept the food, the bowls, the litter, the scoop and the cat toys. She nodded her agreement to take care of Pip as needed, then returned to her own apartment.

“And you, be nice to her,” Tony warned Pip. “She’s a good kid and wants to be your friend. She’ll play with you and feed you, so be a good kitty when she stops by to feed you.”

Pip sat quite still and blinked his eyes, looking rather sweet and innocent.

After straightening his apartment, and doing his laundry, Tony took a quick nap. Later in the day, he went grocery shopping, glad to see Pip remained in the apartment this time. While he was out, he bought a bottle of Gibbs’ favorite bourbon. After making himself a quick dinner, and feeding Pip and Kate, he grabbed the bourbon and headed for the door. 

“I’ll be back late.” And of course, Pip scampered out of the door before Tony closed it. “Oh, so you think you’re coming along? I’m not sure Gibbs is really a cat person.”

Pip trailed after Tony down the hallway, and sat while waiting for the elevator. On the ground floor, the cat walked toward the main entrance with his tail raised high. Tony stopped at the front door and Pip merely glanced up at him. 

“You don’t fool me. I know you can open a door.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. DiNozzo. Allow me to get that for you,” said an elderly neighbor, who swayed between acting totally dotty, and spouting out some fairly profound things from time to time. 

“I didn’t mean you, Paul. I was talking to the cat.”

The man didn’t bat an eye. “Of course, they do secretly rule the world, don’t they?”

Tony eyed the black cat suspiciously. “I am beginning to think so.” Holding the door open as he and the feline exited the building, Tony said, “Let’s go.” 

The black cat ran ahead a short distance, chased a leaf, then deliberately walked directly in front of Peggy from the fourth floor, causing her to gasp in surprise. Pip easily slipped into the back seat of the Mustang as soon as Tony opened the door.

“You’d be good at undercover. You certainly have the stealthy moves down pat.”

It was a short drive over to Gibbs’ house. He wasn’t really sure why he was going over there, or bringing a bottle of bourbon. Even though Gibbs knew about his mission now, he didn’t feel any better about his situation.

The door was unlocked as usual. Normally, Tony would call people before showing up on their doorstep, but he was certain Gibbs would have told him not to come over. The living room was clear, so it was a good bet that Gibbs was down in the basement. Pip walked in with Tony, then immediately ran up the stairs.

“Great. Maybe Gibbs has a new cat now.” As he headed for the basement, he was sure the cat would find them down there eventually.

Gibbs had a knack for hearing people the moment they were at the top of the basement stairs, but he usually didn’t react until they reached the basement floor. With a pencil balanced on his ear, he was busy with measurements, when Tony placed the bottle in front of him.

Finally looking up, Gibbs asked, “What is that for?”

A shrug shook Tony’s shoulders. “I haven’t been over in a while. Just wanted to have a drink with you and make sure everything is okay. I wanted to talk.”

“Isn’t that what you have a girlfriend for?” asked Gibbs as he returned to his tape measure.

“She’s a mark. I thought you knew. Jeanne is La Grenouille’s daughter.”

From Gibbs’ expression, it was clear he hadn’t known. “I thought you were just investigating La Grenouille.”

“I am, but the lead-in was dating his daughter. It was Jenny’s…Director Shepard’s idea.”

“You sleeping with her?”

“Jeanne, yes, the director, definitely no.”

That comment earned a chuckle from Gibbs. Setting his tools down, he reached for a couple of mason jars and wiped them out with a rag before opening the bottle Tony had brought, and splashing a bit of the amber liquid into each glass. He handed one to Tony. “Why are you really here?”

“I don’t know. I’m just very, very sorry. I know how you feel about apologies, but I lied to you.”

“You were following orders.”

“Yes, I was,” Tony admitted. “But that doesn’t mean it didn’t sting.”

“I could tell something was bothering you.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I figured you’d show up here sooner or later, wanting to clear the air.”

Tony eyed the bottle. “Did you know I'd bring the bourbon?”

“No, that was a pleasant surprise. Thank you.”

A smile broke across Tony’s face. “You’re welcome, Boss. We’ve shared enough booze down here, I thought it was about time I helped replenish the stock.”

Gibbs emptied his glass and went for a refill. “What do you want from me?”

“I want to know that we’re okay. I know I was following orders, and you said you would have done the same, but it still really sucks. I want you to know that you can depend on me.”

“Can I?”

“Boss? Yeah, of course you can. I didn’t screw anything up. I mean, I didn’t throw a case, or mislead you.”

Gibbs’ eyes locked onto Tony's, as he sternly said, “Trent Kort.”

Crap! He knew! “I didn’t know he was CIA,” insisted Tony. "Not until that day in the office when his name popped up."

“But you recognized him before that.”

“We never got a hit on his photo until that day. I took it to Jenny right away, and she filled you in a few minutes later.” Gibbs’ eyes were boring holes in him. “I swear, I had no idea he was CIA.”

“Are you telling me everything now?”

Tony immediately looked away. 

“I’m listening. If you’re telling me everything, then tell me the truth now. What else do you know about Trent Kort?”

“We were at RMA at the same time.”

“Does Jenny know?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Tony began pacing. “I wasn't sure he recognized me and if he didn’t, that we attended the same school is irrelevant.”

Gibbs gave him a head slap. “Think, DiNozzo. Kort is CIA. Do you really believe for a second that he didn’t recognize you?”

“He didn’t give any indication that he recognized me. But you’re completely right. He’s CIA. He must be good with names and faces. Chances are, he’s known who I was all along.”

“I don’t trust him. I’m sure he knows who you are. Don’t be surprised if La Grenouille knows exactly who you are, too, and that you’re a federal agent.”

Reaching for the bottle, Tony refilled both of their glasses, then took a long swig of his own. “Kort wouldn’t do that. Would he?”

“He accused NCIS of botching up an eighteen-month covert mission. If his job is getting dirt on people for La Grenouille, do you think he’d hesitate for a moment in blowing your identity? If he doesn’t and La Grenouille finds out later that you’re a fed, it won’t go well for Kort if he didn’t mention it.”

Taking a seat on the bottom step, Tony held his head in his hands. “What the hell am I going to do?”

“Is that a cat?” Gibbs asked, noticing Pip coming down the stairs to sit beside Tony. 

“Yeah, he jumped in my car at the airport when I was working undercover. He wouldn’t leave and I was late for work. I guess he’s mine now. He follows me almost everywhere.”

Gibbs took another sip of his bourbon and smirked. “Are you sure he’s not working for the CIA?”


	5. Chapter 5.

Tony left Gibbs’ house with a mixed bag of feelings. He’d enjoyed being there, bonding and talking with Gibbs. It made him very nervous that Kort likely had told La Grenouille that NCIS was investigating him and may have even blown Tony’s cover. He still didn’t know what Jenny’s beef was with the arms dealer, but he was too tired to go back and ask Gibbs what he knew. At any rate, Jeanne didn’t seem to know he was undercover.

Jeanne wouldn’t like it, but Tony felt that he really needed to spend time with Gibbs, too. Not only at work, but alone in the man’s basement, bonding over bourbon and woodworking. Together, they would figure out what to do about Jenny’s fixation with La Grenouille.

He gave Jeanne the excuse that he was mentoring some students as well as a new teacher and that took up much of his time. Even though he didn’t see her daily, Tony did his best to surprise her by showing up at the hospital during her shift so they could grab a bite to eat or at least a cup of coffee together. Gibbs wasn’t happy about it but didn’t grumble too much about Tony leaving. It’s not that he cut his work short with the team. Any time he took off to spend with Jeanne, he made up for by staying at work late reviewing files and catching up on reports. 

Thankfully, he had Hillary just a phone call away, ready to go check on Kate and Pip whenever Tony asked. He generally gave her ten dollars any time he called her to perform pet care duties. She reported that Pip was delighted to chase around the laser light and the feather on a string. Also that he liked being brushed. Tony was glad that Hillary enjoyed brushing the long-haired cat. It took one task off his way too busy plate.

After one long day at work, Tony arrived home, fed Pip, then went into the bathroom to find the screen off Kate’s bowl, and the goldfish swimming around in the tub itself, quite outside of her small bowl. “Damn cat,” he muttered as he found his fish net and scooped her back into her bowl.

The next day, he gave in and bought her a tank that was large enough that Pip would not be able to knock it off a shelf, plus it had a solid cover, and lots of room for her to swim in. He even bought her new colorful rocks for the bottom of the tank and a castle she could swim around. And a dragon, because who wouldn’t want a cool looking dragon protecting their castle? He was glad to be able to bathe or shower without having to drain her watery moat, and refill it when he was done.

A few nights later, Jeanne called asking him to meet her mother over dinner. Despite his best attempts to avoid the meeting, Jeanne insisted her mother would be in town for two weeks and Tony could not possibly be busy every single one of those nights, so he was just going to have to suck it up and meet her mother.

The dinner was uncomfortable. Jeanne’s mother arrived while Jeanne was in the ladies’ room and quipped that she’d recognized Tony by his overpriced shoes. Thankfully, Jeanne appeared moments later. The conversation drifted in and out of mostly uncomfortable topics, such as sex, and whether Tony was going to wind up hurting Jeanne in the end. It was difficult for him to insist he wasn’t, when he knew he would. There would come a time he was going to not only have to break her heart, but would have to admit he’d been working undercover the entire time. What the hell was he doing and why did he agree to do this?

When he’d first accepted the assignment, Tony thought he’d take Jeanne out a few times, glean a bit of information about her father, and that would be all. He had no idea their relationship was going to drag on for so long, or appear to be as serious as many people, including Jeanne, thought it was. He shook his head. They’d even had a bout where Jeanne wanted to look at houses together. How long could he keep up this pretense? He didn’t even think she knew that her father was an arms dealer. When he’d asked, she told him her father managed real estate deals for large hotel chains throughout the world and that he traveled quite often.

After dinner, Tony went to Gibbs’ house and found he wasn’t home. Grabbing the sandpaper, he began sanding as Gibbs had shown him. Maybe Gibbs was out with Hollis Mann? Tony didn’t know, but he really wanted to speak to the man.

Eventually, Gibbs showed up and explained that Fornell had arranged a meeting between Jenny and Gibbs and Trent Kort. Tony half-wished he had been there to hear what Kort had to say, and was half-glad he hadn’t been dragged along. Dinner with Jeanne’s mother was bad enough. The last thing he wanted was to be around Jenny when Trent brought up that he and Tony had attended RMA together. 

The director was currently trying to go after La Grenouille for the murder of informant Troy Webster instead of for arms dealing, now that the CIA had warned her off. She still felt that only meant she couldn’t go after him for dealing weapons, but anything else was fair game. Tony wasn’t sure if that was true. Something told him this operation was going to turn out badly for her and him both. 

Eventually, he asked Gibbs if Kort had mentioned him at all. 

Gibbs just shook his head and reached for the bourbon.

Tony accepted a glass and sipped the amber liquid. “Do you think I can break up with Jeanne without the director getting mad at me?”

“I doubt it. I don’t know why she’s so hot and bothered about La Grenouille, but I don’t think she’s ever going to let go.”

“Like a dog with a juicy T-bone.”

Gibbs laughed easily and refilled their glasses. “I wouldn’t put it to her that way. Where’s the cat?” he asked, checking the stairs.

“I guess he needed to catnap. He doesn’t leave the apartment every time I do. Only sometimes. I guess he’s been here, done that and would rather get some sleep. Besides, I got to have dinner with Jeanne’s mother tonight. That was enough adventure for one evening. I’m pretty sure the restaurant staff would have frowned if I had a feline trailing in after me.”

Neither man spoke for a few minutes, then Gibbs finally said, “This op of hers is taking up too much of our time and efforts. We need to bring it to a close.”

“How are we going to do that?”

“I don’t know. I talked to Ducky and he doesn’t think she’s ever going to get over this obsession of hers either.”

Things didn’t get any better when they’d tracked down an overseas container two days later that had been shipped by La Grenouille, only to find out he’d sent a bottle of wine and toy guns. They had expected to find enough real guns to put him away. The director was furious.

A few nights later, Tony walked into Gibbs’ house to talk to him, only to meet up with Hollis on her way out the door. 

“Hello, Colonel Mann,” he said to be sociable. 

“Hello, Agent DiNozzo. Was that a black cat?” she asked as Pip darted up the staircase.

“Yeah, I’ve been adopted by a cat who I’m certain was a ninja in his past life. I have no idea what he does upstairs, but Gibbs has never yelled at me for it. At least not yet.” 

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” Tony said, while looking longingly toward the kitchen escape route.

“Has Jethro ever mentioned retiring from NCIS?”

“Gibbs? Never. His job is his life. He gets so focused on cases sometimes that he does nothing else. Except for his boats and bourbon in the basement.”

“Uh-huh. I was hoping he was ready to enjoy the finer things in life.”

Tony smiled brilliantly. “There is nothing more satisfying to Jethro than putting a bad guy behind bars. That is the love of his life, his passion and his life’s mission.”

“And any woman would take a back seat to that?” she asked, one hand on the doorknob.

“I would imagine. Have a nice night, Colonel Mann.”

“You, too, Agent DiNozzo. I heard you’re in a serious relationship. Maybe you can teach Jethro your balancing act.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not sure I’ve perfected it quite yet.”

The door shut softly when she left, and Tony walked through the house to the back staircase and descended into the basement. 

“Back so soon?” Gibbs said without turning around.

“It’s me, Boss.”

Gibbs looked up at him, as if he was making sure.

“I passed Hollis on her way out. She asked if you were ready to retire.”

Tilting his head back, Gibbs looked up at the ceiling and chuckled. “Yeah, she has put in for her retirement. Apparently, she wants me to join her.”

“Are you going to?”

Gibbs shook his head.

“Yeah, I couldn’t see it. You’re too good at what you do, and putting away the bad guys gives you a sense of satisfaction.”

“So does building a boat.”

“And drinking bourbon? I brought you another bottle,” said Tony as he handed over his offering.

Gibbs accepted the bottle and wiped out two mason jars. “I see the cat came back.”

Tony turned to see Pip coming to join them. “He’s been growing on me. So, you and Mann, do you ever think about marrying her?”

“I like her, but I don’t think we want the same things.”

“She’s ready for tropical drinks on a beach and you still have a job to do. I get it. How are you going to tell her?”

“Why tell her anything?” Gibbs asked, after sipping his bourbon, he added, “She’s an intelligent woman. She’ll figure it out soon enough.”

“I’m not sure what to do about Jeanne either. I stupidly suggested we could play house and now she’s out looking for apartments so we can move in together. I certainly don’t want us to be roommates when I have to tell her this was all an op, trying to get a lead on her father.”

“It’s not going to end well.”

Tony watched Pip walk the frame of the boat like a balance beam. “They never do. For either of us. At least we still have each other.”

Gibbs was busy working on the boat. “You certainly do understand me better than any of my wives.”

“Well, I understand the job. I understand your motivation.”

“And you generally know when to walk out the door.”

“Yeah, it is late. Come on, Pip, let’s go home and see what Kate is up to.”

Leaving Gibbs behind, Tony walked out of the house, making sure Pip was with him before he closed the door. To his surprise, Hollis Mann was still in front of Gibbs’ house, leaning against her car.

“He’s still up,” Tony offered.

“I wanted to ask your opinion, Tony. Am I barking up the wrong tree? I enjoy spending time with Jethro, but sometimes, I don’t think it’s going anywhere.”

“He’s been married four times…”

“Widowed once, divorced three times. I know.” 

“I’ve known him for a few years. His focus is the job. His relaxation is the boat and bourbon. He’s happy with that. I don’t see him getting married again. Sorry,” he said as he opened the door of his Mustang for Pip.

“Thank you for being candid.”

“You’re welcome, and again, have a good night.”

The tires squealed as he pulled away. Damn! Would Gibbs be glad he tried to get Mann to move on? Or would he be upset? 

Pip spent most of the drive in the back seat but sauntered into the front passenger seat before they arrived back at the apartment. “Women, they’re nothing but trouble, Pip. I’ve been thinking a lot about me and Gibbs lately. We’d be a good match, don’t you think?”

Pip meowed, then head-butted Tony’s shoulder, purring when Tony reached over to scratch his head and pet him. “I think he digs you. He’s never asked me not to bring you along. And did you notice? He put a litter box in the laundry room. I know that’s for you. I mean, I’m sure he’s not inviting over any other felines.”

It had been a long day, and the director had told him she was leaving for Paris soon. Although she was officially going to a conference, Tony was sure she was going to be doing some digging around, trying to find something, anything, to pin on La Grenouille. Tony was actually hoping she’d find something. He was really tired of the long hours, and it was clear that Jeanne was getting way too serious about him. While he wanted to dump her, he was afraid Jenny would be upset.

It was going to be a long week, with himself leading the team while Gibbs was covering for Jenny. 

“I wonder if there’s anything going on between those two,” Tony wondered as he and Pip traversed the hallway to the apartment. Once inside, he fed Pip his dinner, then sprinkled some food for Kate. 

Before going to bed, he poured himself a glass of wine and sat on the sofa. Running his hands through his hair, he thought about Jenny and Gibbs, and wondered what they must have been like when working undercover together in Europe. Gibbs seemed to always take her in stride. 

Tony found her advances to be uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure if Jenny was really after him, or if she just liked to flirt. He’d wanted to ask Gibbs, but even that was terribly uncomfortable. Still, it bothered him when she looked him up and down, ran her hand down his arm or winked at him suggestively when they were alone.

A slight shudder shook his body before he gulped down the rest of his wine, wiped his mouth and returned the glass to the kitchen. 

He found Pip was already waiting for him in bed, and thought the only thing nicer would be having Gibbs waiting for him. Although, he had a feeling that Gibbs was always the last one to bed. But that would be okay, too. He thought about what it would be like to run his fingers through Gibbs’ silver hair, or across his chest. He’d always sort of had a thing for Gibbs, but seriously wanting to explore those feelings was something fairly new to him. 

What would Jeanne and Hollis think if he and Gibbs wound up together? What would Jenny think?


	6. Chapter 6.

It was always interesting when Gibbs took the helm when Jenny was away. Tony, Ziva and Tim had a bet going on, to see how many days it would be until Gibbs showed up at a crime scene and insisted on taking lead. Ducky and Jimmy wanted to be in on that action. Tony was sure it wasn’t that Gibbs didn’t trust him to lead the team as much as Gibbs hated being stuck in an office doing paperwork, and spending most of the day in meetings. His main pastime seemed to be going head-to-head with Cynthia, Jenny’s assistant.

Ducky won the bet when Gibbs showed up at the front gate where a cab driver had arrived with a dead man in the back seat, insisting that his fare had asked to be brought to NCIS.

Several hours later, when they caught the man attempting to leave with a smuggled cohort hidden inside the bench seat, it gave Tony ideas of Pip hiding in the car. Or anywhere. The cat was sneaky. Maybe he did work for the CIA? Tony made a note to find out what Pip’s original owner had done for a living.

After five days in France, Director Shepard returned to DC. And they found out from Tim that everyone in NCIS had been scheduled for polygraphs. That sucked. Gibbs found out from Fornell, that the testing had been prompted by the CIA being curious about Director Shepard’s pursuit of La Grenouille. Tony would rather work cases than take tests of any kind. Tim was so nervous that he failed Abby’s homemade lie detector on the simple question of what his nicknames were. Tony could only shake his head.

It was a dark, rainy night and Jeanne was working the late shift at the hospital. On his way up to her floor on the elevator, Tony ran into a young couple who seemed a bit off. Being pretty sure the young woman was suffering from withdrawal symptoms, he suggested the young man take her to the ER and get her some help. He watched them walk down the hallway and overheard the man saying that Tony was obviously a cop. 

How did that guy figure it out within seconds, but no one in the hospital ever suspected him? The answer seemed obvious. The criminal element was wary of the police and had more experience with them than the average person. The couple made the hair on Tony’s neck bristle. There was something going on, but he had nothing to bring the couple in for. He couldn’t randomly search them based on his spidey-sense. Or was that his ninja-sense? Maybe he was learning a thing or two from Pip.

When the couple reached the nurses’ station, Tony listened in as the young woman introduced herself as Bernie, and said she was there to visit her brother, Devon, who had been brought in with a compound fracture. He’d walked right in front of a cab at the airport, and his leg was severely broken from the contact. Jeanne allowed the young woman and her companion, Nick, visit Devon, but asked the nurse to limit the visit to ten minutes.

Tony had a bad feeling. He was sure Abby would say something was hinky. With nothing to go on, he offered to take Jeanne to the cafeteria for pie and coffee. When she brought up looking at houses again, he did his best not to roll his eyes. Staring out the window, he watched the rain pouring down. Looking at houses was a waste of time. There was no way he could buy a house with Jeanne. It was just a pipedream that was never going to come to fruition. 

Suddenly, her pager began beeping. 

“Code blue,” she said urgently as she quickly rose from her seat and started down the hallway.

“Go ahead, I’ll be right behind you,” Tony called after her.

She ran ahead while Tony grabbed their coffees and tossed the pie plate into a trashcan. He followed her up to the room, and noticed the young man’s backpack near the door. With everyone focused on the patient, Tony took the backpack to the nurses’ station and searched it, locating the stub of an airline ticket for a recent flight. 

Stepping back into the room, he said, “He flew in from Caracas three hours ago. He must be body-packing heroin and the bag burst.”

Jeanne and the nurses did everything they could to save Devon’s life, but he slipped away within minutes. Tony listened in as Jeanne spoke to Nick and Bernie, telling them that Devon didn’t have to lose his life like that if only he had told them about the heroin; if any of them had informed them that Devon was body-packing drugs, he might have been saved.

Nick sounded threatening, saying they didn’t want Devon to be autopsied. Jeanne held her ground firmly, insisting that an autopsy would be performed, and they could pick up his body from the county coroner once he was done with his report.

Tony didn’t like it at all. It was very late and he knew he should go home and get some sleep, but he had a bad feeling about this Nick character and was concerned he may cause some sort of trouble at the hospital. While Tony wasn’t in love with Jeanne, he liked and respected her and certainly did not want to see her harmed in any way. 

He wondered, did Kort even know he was dating Jeanne? What, if anything, had he said to La Grenouille? He pondered how long he could work the case before his cover was blown.

Despite the feeling in his gut, Tony reluctantly agreed to go home to get some sleep and would return at seven in the morning to take Jeanne to breakfast. Then he headed for the elevator. Just as the car arrived, Jeanne ran in with him.

“Miss me already?”

“Our grieving couple may be in the morgue trying to get the body.”

“They’re after the drugs,” said Tony, as he punched the button for the lower level. 

“I will not allow him to carve her brother up in front of her. He’ll make a gory mess she will never get out of her mind.”

When the elevator opened, Jeanne tore down the hallway. Tony chased after her, grabbing her arm to stop her just before she entered autopsy. “Stop, Jeanne. You’re going to get yourself killed. We should wait for security.” Out of habit, he reached for his sidearm only to realize he’d left it locked in the gun safe, secured in the trunk of his car. “You don’t have a weapon on you, do you?”

Just then Nick pushed the door open, aiming a gun at them. “I’ve got one. Inside. Both of you. Now.”

It was looking bad and got even worse when Nick coldcocked Tony with the butt of his gun. “Call off security or he’ll get a bullet through his brain,” Nick said to Jeanne.

Tony cringed from the pain and shook his head, but Jeanne called off security anyway. This was not going to end well. On a positive note, if Nick killed him, he wouldn’t have to worry about hurting Jeanne when the case ended. 

Jeanne helped Tony sit up, leaning his back against a wall as she checked him out. All he could focus on was trying to get the upper hand on Nick. How could he get the gun away from him? Could he get to a scalpel? Could Jeanne get a scalpel to him without Nick knowing? There had to be a way to outsmart this guy. 

He wondered if Pip had snuck into the car. Most of the time, he noticed Pip leaving the apartment, getting into the elevator with him, or jumping into his car.  
He hadn’t seen the cat do any of those things this evening, but he couldn’t help but think that this would be the most perfect time for the black ninja cat to sneak around the corner and go banzai on this guy.

Once Jeanne was sure Tony was okay, she donned a mask and gloves and began cutting into Devon’s abdomen, quickly finding the heroin in his intestines. Nick was pissed when she cut the package open, spilling the white powder everywhere. 

While Nick was focused on Jeanne, Tony rose to his feet, ready to tackle Nick. Suddenly, Jeanne thrust the scalpel into Nick’s body just below his shoulder as he reached toward her. The gun clattered to the floor and Tony dove for the weapon. He fired it once as a warning from where he lay on the floor, then pointed it at Nick’s head.

“The next one is in your ear,” he promised. “Jeanne, get security down here, now!

By the time security arrived, and they had contacted the police, and everything was sorted, it was nearly the end of Jeanne’s shift. Tony sighed. He’d gotten no sleep at all, and he had to be at work in a couple of hours. What the hell could he do now? He wouldn’t even have time to change his clothes, but after the night they’d had, he felt they both needed to be treated to a nice breakfast. 

As he sat in the main lobby, Tony closed his eyes, but tried not to fall asleep. It took a few minutes for Jeanne to change her clothes. At least she had that opportunity. Without bothering to open his eyes, he loosened his tie and mentally ran over his interview with the police. He had insisted on being questioned separately from Jeanne so he could disclose he was an undercover federal agent working a long-term case. While he could have pretended to be Tony DiNardo, as he had the credentials, they’d taken his fingerprints so it was only a matter of time before they identified him as NCIS agent Tony DiNozzo. Or had Jenny fixed that? Would his prints come back as Tony DiNardo? 

Jeanne appeared surprisingly refreshed when she stopped in front of him and kissed his cheek. Tony was certain she’d taken a quick shower. He wished he could have a shower and clean clothes. Later. He’d have to settle for later. 

The sun was already shining brightly as they walked out of the hospital hand in hand. Jeanne smiled at him and said he should be under doctor’s observation for twenty-four hours. He checked his watch. He’d have to move his car in the next couple of hours or it could be towed. They had time for breakfast, though. It was a nice morning for a walk after the overnight stressful events, and there were several good restaurants within walking distance. Just then a limousine pulled up in front of them. 

“What’s this?” Tony asked, realizing it was for them. 

“My secret,” Jeanne replied as she waited for a man emerging from the passenger side of the limo to open the door for her. “Bonjour, Papa,” she said, leaning into the vehicle.

He couldn’t believe it when he saw La Grenouille inside the car. This was worse than having dinner with Jeanne’s mom. This was an uncalled for surprise attack. He was too stunned and too tired to think up any excuse to leave. What could he do but climb into the limo and meet the very arms dealer his boss was chasing after? 

“It is nice to meet you, Tony DiNardo,” said La Grenouille. After kissing Tony’s cheeks, he continued, “Welcome to the family, professor.”

“Thank you, Mr. Benoit.”

“Please, call me René.” 

The wheels were spinning in Tony’s head, wondering how to get out of this. What excuse could send them back to the hospital? What if Kort had divulged Tony’s true identity to La Grenouille? This could go very bad, very fast. When Jeanne’s pager went off, Tony managed to surreptitiously send a 911 text to Jenny.

“I forgot to sign the death certificate to release the body to the coroner,” Jeanne said. “We have to go back. Everything was so crazy before. I was waiting for them to get the certificate ready, then we went down to the morgue, and had the police show up. In all the confusion, I completely forgot all about it.”

“That is no problem,” said René. Looking into the front seat, he raised his voice and asked for the driver to return to the hospital.

They dropped her off at the front door, and René offered to buy Tony a cup of coffee while they waited. The questioning was unnerving. René seemed to be dropping hints, asking if Tony was going to hurt Jeanne, and whether he’d lied to her. 

Tony was glad to see Jeanne return to them quickly. It was getting late, so he made the excuse that he had to move his car. He had just opened the door, when René appeared beside him along with his assistant, and insisted that Tony ride in the limousine and allow Henri to follow them in the Mustang. 

“He is an excellent driver, and then your car will be at the restaurant waiting for you when we are done with our meal. Jeanne said you will be going into work after we eat. You come with Jeanne and me, so we can get to know each other.”

“Yeah, sure,” Tony said as he silently cursed his bad luck. He quickly searched around the car, checking to see if Pip was hiding in there, but he failed to spot the feline.

“Why don’t you leave your cell phone in your car? There will be fewer interruptions that way.”

That was disconcerting, but Tony did have two phones. While he had sent a 911 text on his undercover phone, that was easy to explain considering the events down in the morgue. That’s the one he handed over to Henri to put into the console. 

As he turned, René grabbed his arm. “And your other phone, Agent DiNozzo.”

He was sunk. Kort had obviously sold him out and La Grenouille knew exactly who he was. He clearly hadn’t told Jeanne. Yet. 

“I must insist,” pressed René. 

Henri pushed his jacket back to reveal a weapon, and held his hand out for Tony’s other phone. There was no other choice than to hand it over. He’d been worried that Henri might search the car and find his badge and weapon, but it didn’t matter as they obviously already knew he was a federal agent. Now he had no way to contact Jenny further and no way to defend himself. He’d have to use his street smarts to survive whatever was coming next. René had a certain amount of class, though. As long as Tony stayed close to Jeanne, he was sure he would be safe.

René didn’t skip a beat, pretending everything was fine as they rode in the back of the limousine, heading toward a restaurant for breakfast. He was pleasant and chatty, asking a few questions, and continued calling Tony ‘professor’. 

The shock was the sudden loud noise and brilliant flash of light behind them. As Tony was on the side bench seat, he saw his Mustang explode first-hand, and instinctively reached for Jeanne, covering her head protectively as René started shouting to his driver to go, leave the scene. He had the driver pull over several minutes later, next to a park a good distance from the explosion. They heard sirens in the distance, heading toward the scene.

Tony stood staring at the plume of smoke rising from what was once his green Mustang. He really wanted to return to the scene in case his team showed up, so he could let them know he was okay. Shaking his head, he could imagine them finding his two cell phones, his badge and his weapon in the wreckage. His biggest worry was Pip. Had the cat snuck into the car? How long would it take Ducky and Jimmy to determine it wasn’t his burned up body in the Mustang?

While René made a few phone calls out of earshot, Tony pulled Jeanne over to a park bench and decided it was time he came clean. It was clear her father knew his real name and that he was a federal agent. It was only a matter of time before he told her. It was better that she heard it from Tony, rather than from someone else. She was already in shock from witnessing the explosion, but now had the shock of learning that the man she thought she loved was actually an undercover federal agent. 

“What is going on?” she asked. “Your car just exploded. It could have been you.”

“Tell me you love me.”

“I do, but I don’t understand what is going on. Why would your car be blown up? Who is after you? The way you handled things last night, the way you fired the gun, it’s like you’re someone else. Are you someone else? Who are you?” She pulled her hand away from his, which made him feel so guilty for betraying her.

“I’m a federal agent. My name is Anthony DiNozzo and I work for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.” 

“What is it that you think I’ve done? Tell me. Tell me what I’ve done,” she pleaded. 

“It’s not you.” Tony nodded to her father. “You should ask him. I didn’t mean to hurt you, Jeanne.”

“None of this was real?” Jeanne asked shaking her head, obviously upset and distancing herself from Tony. “This is all a lie. I have to go. I have to get out of here.”

“Jeanne, wait. Please.”

It was no use. She fled alone and hailed a taxi. Tony was about to go after her when her father placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“It is best to let her sort this out and calm down. I trust you that told her?”

“What choice did I have?” 

“Come with me. I will drop you off at work.”

Inside the limousine, René poured them both a drink and began confiding in Tony that he felt the walls closing in. He knew multiple agencies were after him. He was prepared to make a deal. “While I would like to spare my own life, I am more concerned that my children and grandchildren are unharmed. They know nothing about what I do for a living, and I fear there are people after me who would harm my family only to cause me pain.”

While Tony feigned listening, his thoughts drifted back to seeing his car exploding. He hoped and prayed Pip wasn’t in the car. All he really wanted to do was to go back to his apartment, check on Pip and change into a clean suit. However, there was another issue. He really needed to go to work. 

Even though Jeanne was no longer with them, René was insistent that they could both use a hearty breakfast. They went to a different restaurant than they’d originally planned, and the driver was to remain with the vehicle to ensure that no one tampered with it. 

“I am running out of people I can trust,” he confided in Tony. “It’s only a matter of time before I cross the wrong person at the most inopportune moment, and tragedy shall ensue.” 

Tony was intrigued that René was opening up to him. As he had no way to record the conversation, Tony began listening in earnest, and focused on remembering the highlights. Maybe he could obtain some useful information from the man.

After a long, leisurely breakfast, René made a few more phone calls before getting back into the limousine with Tony. They drove for over two more hours, around town and to a marina where René checked on a yacht. Tony was without his phone and René noted that Jeanne was not answering hers. “She will come back once she has calmed down. She has always been this way.”

Before Tony could think of a safe place to be dropped off, René had ordered his driver to drop Tony off outside of the Navy Yard. And really, the last thing Tony wanted was for the arms dealer and his driver to know where his apartment was. So he steeled his feelings and walked into the Navy Yard, through security, and onto the elevator.


	7. Chapter 7.

Since he had texted a 911 to the director, Tony was certain she’d had his team track down his car. They’d most likely been to the scene. He wondered if they’d be back at the Navy Yard yet. Probably. They would have processed the scene as quickly as they could and returned to the Navy Yard to verify the identity of the remains. There was no doubt that the director would have brought in multiple teams as needed to speed up the process. 

Tony thought about La Grenouille’s assistant, Henri. While alive, it wasn’t likely they’d be mistaken for one another, but burned beyond recognition was another story. They were of a similar height and build. If that’s all Ducky had to go on at the scene, he may have come to a preliminary conclusion that it was most likely Tony, since it was his car. They would have found both of his cell phones, along with his badge and weapon. 

He felt horrible that his team would have thought he was dead. It was terrible to think about them at the scene, combing through the wreckage and believing he had died in the explosion. Except for Abby. She would insist on seeing the scientific evidence proving it was his body before she would believe he was dead. 

Guilt churned in his stomach, wishing he’d thought to call them from the restaurant. He’d been so engaged in listening to René’s story, and getting information for the director, that he hadn’t thought to slip away and contact his team. Checking his watch, he saw it was already after noon. He went to autopsy first. Seeing Ducky and Jimmy both hovering over the burned body, Tony immediately grabbed a face mask after entering. 

“His name is Henri,” he said. “He worked for La Grenouille.”

“Anthony!” Ducky said cheerfully, obviously pleased to see him.

“Yep, I am alive.”

“We have already determined this body was not yours.”

“Dr. Mallard did,” said Jimmy, smiling joyously at seeing Tony. “He noticed the lungs weren’t scarred like yours would be, from your bout with the plague.”

“Was there anything else in the car?” Tony asked. “Like a cat?” He could feel the tears prickling his eyes.

Ducky shook his head. “No. I’m quite certain there were no other remains in the automobile.”

“Even under the seats? I have a new cat with a knack of sneaking into the car.”

“They checked the vehicle thoroughly. They found both of your cell phones, your badge and ID, and your weapon. They searched for any fragments of the explosive. So, no, my dear boy, there were no cat remains found, nor any other remains. Only this man you call Henri. I don’t suppose you have a last name?”

“I’d never seen him before. René called him Henri. I assume he is French. They were speaking French.”

“Forgive me for not shaking your hand, Tony, but I’m a bit elbow-deep in Henri’s guts at the moment. However, I am very pleased it wasn’t you. And so is the team.”

“You told them?”

“The moment I realized this body could not be yours, I went to the bullpen in person to let them know.”

“Thanks, Ducky. Jimmy.”

“You haven’t been up there yet?” Ducky asked. 

Tony shook his head. “I was afraid Pip might have snuck into the car last night. I hadn’t seen him, but he can be pretty stealthy. There have been a couple times I was unaware he’d slipped into the car, and he’d pop out from under the seat and say hello.”

“I can assure you with all certainty, there was no cat in your car when it exploded. If it makes you feel any better, the shockwave would have killed this unfortunate man before the fire. He would not have felt any pain. We’ll reach out to the French embassy to see if they can assist in identifying him and getting his remains back to his family.”

“Yeah, you do that, Ducky. Thanks.”

Stopping by the supply room, Tony had the young agent there issue him a replacement cell phone, registering it with his same phone number. He explained that his previous phone had been blown up and was no longer usable, but had been collected as evidence.

Returning to the main lobby, Tony made a quick call to Hillary, asking her to check in on Pip and Kate. “I had an emergency at work last night and haven’t been home. They’ve already missed dinner and breakfast.”

“I’ll be happy to feed them, Mr. DiNozzo.”

“Thank you.”

After taking a few deep, cleansing breaths, Tony took the elevator up to the bullpen. To his surprise, he walked right into Trent Kort, who shoved him up against the wall, his forearm across Tony’s neck. It didn’t escape Tony that Kort had scratches over his face. 

“Hey, my car blew up this morning. Did you do that?”

“The agency had nothing to do with that. Where did you go with La Grenouille?”

The team was there in an instant, weapons drawn, forcing Kort to release his hold on Tony.

“He prefers René,” said Tony as he straightened his jacket. “Arms dealers can get so touchy about their code names. What’s up with those scratches all over your face? Rough date last night?”

Just then Tony’s phone rang. “Okay, thank you. Don’t worry about it. I’ll find him.” This time he shoved Kort up against the wall. “Were you at my apartment last night? Did you take my cat? Is that what all this is about? I know you told René who I was.”

Kort shoved back, but Tony didn’t release him. “Why the hell didn’t you call me?”

“Call you? I don’t have your number.”

“I recognized you at the airport. I slipped my number into your pocket along with the twenty-dollar bill."

Backing away, Tony scrubbed his hands over his face. Kort had recognized him and had known who he from the start. The jumpsuit was still in the gym bag, on the floor of his closet at the apartment. He’d forgotten all about it. “You’ve known all along?”

“Of course. I was hoping we could talk, but you never called. I had the CIA run a background check and found your work history as a police officer, homicide detective and now a special agent working for NCIS. I gathered the job as a baggage handler was undercover and not to subsidize your federal paycheck.”

“And you told René. Why?”

“That was my job. I check out the people he comes into contact with. I couldn’t risk covering for you and having him find out later, so yes, I told him you were a federal agent. He knows what Director Shepard blames him for, so he was not at all surprised she’d send an agent after him. All he cared about is that you were not an assassin, which I assured him you were not. He was actually relieved that you were watching out for his daughter. What better protection for her than a federal agent?”

“What the hell did you do with my cat? Did you want to use him as a toupee or something?”

“I didn’t do anything with your damned cat, DiNozzo.” With that, Kort straightened his tie and disappeared into the elevator. “We will find La Grenouille with or without your help.”

Turning to his team, Tony said, “Sorry I’m late. What did I miss?”

“My office, Agent DiNozzo,” said Director Shepard. Gibbs accompanied the pair upstairs. 

Tony gave his story about the events of the previous night and the morning. He even confessed that he’d known Kort all along, but had hoped the man hadn’t recognized him. “I didn’t know he was CIA. It’s not like we were friends at school and we’ve had no contact since graduation. If he hadn’t recognized me, I didn’t think it was relevant to the case.”

Jenny was obviously not pleased. “But he did recognize you and you were compromised. I would have pulled you out if you had told me.”

“Let me guess, he knew about the explosion and showed up here looking for me?”

Jenny nodded. “He said he had some information that your car may be rigged. He’d passed that on to La Grenouille. Apparently, Henri was about to be cut loose anyway. He had become sloppy in his work. La Grenouille didn’t think he could be trusted any longer.”

“I suppose I should thank him for not letting me get into the car.”

Jenny ran the clip of his car exploding on the big screen in her office. “You were at the hospital all night?”

“Yeah. Pretty ballsy of someone to plant that explosion with the police presence.”

“The police weren’t looking at cars in the lot,” said Gibbs.

Tony shifted in his chair. “That’s true. They were processing the shooting, drug smuggling and death.” Nodding to the screen, he said, “That was more exciting live.”

“You were there?” Jenny asked. 

“I was in the limousine with Jeanne and her father. We were right in front of my car when it exploded. I saw it, heard it, felt it.”

After the briefing, Tony and Gibbs walked out of the office together. 

“Have you been home?” Gibbs asked.

“No. La Grenouille had his driver drop me off at the front gate. I didn’t want them to know where my apartment was.”

“Go home, DiNozzo. Change. Check to see if Pip is there.”

“I called Hillary. She feeds Kate and Pip if I can’t make it home. She called back and said Pip was gone. She checked the main lobby and the building manager mentioned that a bald man claiming to be my cousin had stopped by.”

“Kort.”

“Then he shows up here with scratches all over his face. He did something with Pip. I can feel it.”

“Maybe the cat got away and he’s hiding nearby. Go check.”

Tony shook his head. “My car was blown up. My badge, creds, cell phone. My gun. They were all destroyed. I replaced the phone, but I still have to replace everything else, including my car.”

Gibbs nodded toward the elevator. “Pip first. I’ll drive you.”

Minutes later, they were at Tony’s apartment. There was no sign of the cat, but Kate was calmly swimming around her aquarium. Tony checked in his closet, pulling out the bag with the jumpsuit from the airport. Sure enough, there was a twenty-dollar bill wrapped around a business card with a phone number on it. 

“I’ll be damned,” said Tony.

Gibbs handed over his cell. “Call him.”

Tony quickly dialed the number and put it on speakerphone. “I know you were here, Kort. The building manager told me that my bald cousin had stopped by. Don’t even try to deny it. What the hell did you do with my cat?”

“La Grenouille purchased a disabled copy of ARES. The real version had been stolen and recovered. We’re not sure how it got out. It had to be an inside job. I was hiding it. I know you’re a white hat, so I figured you could be trusted with it.”

Raising his voice, Tony asked, “What the fuck happened to my cat?”

“I was looking for a good hiding place and assumed he was an inside cat. I slipped the microchips into his collar, and placed the collar back around his neck. I picked him up to set him on the floor and he went a little ballistic and clawed my face to get away. I promise I didn’t hurt him.”

“Then where the hell is he?”

“When I left your apartment, the bloody cat ran out the door. I chased him down the hallway and the staircase. He disappeared from my view. I looked for him for several minutes, but I honestly don’t know where he is.”

Gibbs narrowed his eyes. “That cat is on the loose with twenty million dollars of tech hidden inside his collar?”

“Something like that,” Kort admitted.

Tony hung up the phone. “We have to find him.”

“He’s slipped out before. Where does he go?”

“My car. But that’s not an option anymore.”

“Get changed, then we’ll go look for him. Why don’t you bring a bag and stay with me for a couple of nights? I’d also suggest adding another deadbolt or two to your door.”

“He’d only pick it.”

“Kort or the cat?” Gibbs asked.

They looked for Pip for a couple of hours before returning to the Navy Yard. Tony called his vet to let him know the cat had slipped out, and if he was turned in, he was very much wanted back. “A friend stopped by, and Pip ran out the door on him. He feels terrible. Usually, I find Pip at my car, but I had a little car trouble today and it caught fire. It’s a total loss. My friends, neighbors and I have searched for hours for him, but he hasn’t turned up yet,” he explained. 

Tony borrowed one of the agency sedans to go search for Jeanne. When he returned to the Navy Yard, Gibbs and the director were both gone. After completing his reports, he was about to call Gibbs, when the man stepped off the elevator.

That night, they stopped off for Chinese on the way back to Gibbs’ house. Instead of going to the basement right away, Gibbs turned on the television, so they could eat while watching an old western.

“I borrowed a sedan and drove over to Jeanne’s apartment,” Tony began. “She’s cleared it out, left the key with the manager.”

“Ziva and McGee traced the limo plates to a shell company and found a yacht owned by the same company down at the marina. We went to check it out, but no one was there.”

“I have no idea where she went. She left a note saying I’d have to choose. But there is no choice. It was a job, a mission. Now, it’s over.”

“Do you love her?”

Tony put down his fork for a minute and faced Gibbs. “No. I liked her, but I was never in love with her. How about you and Mann?”

“Same thing. I like her, but I can’t say that I love her.”

“Do you think you’ll ever get married again?” asked Tony.

Gibbs fished around his carton with his chopsticks. “I don’t know. It’s never worked out before, and going through a divorce or three really sucks.”

“I always dreamed of finding someone I could love, but the job sure doesn’t make it easy.”

“We have the team. We’re like family.”

“And I have Kate and Pip. Or I had Pip.”

“Do you believe Kort?”

“I don’t know. I just wish I knew where Pip was. I am relieved that he wasn’t in the car when it was blown up. I didn’t know you weren’t fully read in on the op.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t tell Jenny anything. You can go back to your apartment if you want to watch out for Pip.”

“No, it’s okay. Hillary has a key, and everyone in the building knows to watch out for him. I appreciate you letting me stay here. It’s been a really rough twenty-four hours.”

“Any idea where Jeanne may have gone?”

“No. I called the hospital and they said she’d resigned and was leaving the country.”

“Are you going to go looking for her?” Gibbs asked. 

“No. She’s hurting and there is nothing I can say to take away the pain. Not only am I not her loving boyfriend, but I’m the guy who is responsible for her learning that her dear old dad is an international arms dealer.”

“He showed up at Jenny’s house, begging for her help.”

Tony was suitably surprised. “Really? I never did find out what the whole deal was between them. Former lovers?”

Gibbs laughed heartily. “Hardly. The official ruling of her father’s death is that he committed suicide. La Grenouille said he had paid Jasper Shepard a bribe, and that’s why he committed suicide, over his guilt at taking a bribe. Jenny is certain that La Grenouille had her father killed because he refused to take the bribe.”

“I take it she refused to offer him any help?”

“She gave him her Glock and told him to protect himself.”

“According to Ducky, René was not the sort to carry a weapon,” said Tony.

“He did say she was signing his death warrant.”

“And I take it she didn’t care at all about that.”

Gibbs shook his head. “No. Some people need someone to chase, but I get the impression that Jenny will be a happier person if she knows La Grenouille is dead.”

“Jeanne will be heartbroken.”

Gibbs looked at him directly. “DiNozzo, it is not your problem. It is not your responsibility. He chose his line of work. Just because he gained a conscience late in life doesn’t mean it’s your problem to square it with his daughter.”

Leaning back on the sofa, Tony said, “I know. I just feel terrible about what I put her through.”

As the credits began to roll, Gibbs asked, “Would a few shots of bourbon help?”

Standing up, Tony gathered his trash to take into the kitchen. “Sure, let’s do it,” he said as he headed for the basement.

Tony watched as Gibbs worked on his current project. Each man was sipping on a glass of bourbon, refilling as needed.

An hour later, they heard someone arrive at the house and watched the man descend the stairs into the basement. 

“What do you want, Fornell?” Gibbs asked as he tightened a joint on the unfinished hull.

“Just thought you’d like to know. There has been a rash of sightings of a long-haired black cat wearing a green collar.”

Jumping to his feet, Tony asked, “Where?”

Fornell smiled, his hands still in his coat pockets. “Apparently, he’s been getting on and off buses all over town.”

“Buses?”

“Your cat, DiNozzo. Maybe he’s looking for you, tracking your scent.” Turning to Gibbs, Fornell asked, “I don’t suppose you have another mason jar, or should I bring down a coffee cup?” 

Tossing a shop towel over his shoulder, Gibbs scrounged up another mason jar, quickly wiped it out and splashed a bit of alcohol in it before handing it to Fornell. “What’s your take on Kort?”

Fornell stared at the amber liquid in his glass. “He’s CIA. What do you want me to say?”

“He seems like a man with an ulterior motive to me,” said Gibbs as he went back to working on his boat. 

“Well, he’s been working on Lodestone for a while. He’s managed to go undercover using his real name by selling himself as a disgruntled former CIA agent. They doctored his personnel file to make it appear that he’d been fired.”

“Yeah, I got the feeling he’s a bit of a weasel, too.”

“I’d really like Pip to come home,” said Tony, as he emptied his glass and refilled it. “That’s my new mission, Operation Black Cat.”

“I get the feeling he can take care of himself,” said Gibbs. “Besides, I don’t think we’re ever going to spot a stealthy black cat slinking around town in the dark.”

“I know, you’re completely right. And I’m sure he can take care of himself. It’s not the first time he’s been out on his own for a while.”

“You said he’s chipped. He’ll turn up eventually.”

The next morning, Gibbs and Tony went to the diner for breakfast, then drove around town, checking out the list of bus stops that Fornell had provided as possible sightings of the black cat. 

They picked up barbeque on their way back to Gibbs’ house. Gibbs even reached over and put his arm around Tony’s shoulder to console him. “I’m sure he’ll turn up sooner or later.”

Tony's sadness was clear in his expression. “I know it’s silly. I haven’t had him that long, but he’s really grown on me.”

“Didn’t Abby tell you that you needed something more than a goldfish in your life?” Gibbs asked.

“Yeah. She suggested I adopt a dog or cat. I didn’t think I had the time to take care of a pet, but he’s really easy to live with. He’d snuggle up with me at night. Now it’s weird to sleep alone.”

Moving his arm, Gibbs gave Tony’s hand a squeeze as he drove back to his house. He remained quiet for a while, then spoke. “I miss having someone living in the house with me. I enjoy having you stay over.”

“You’re right. Sharing experiences with someone else is better than being alone all the time. Are you saying you’re looking for a roommate?”

Gibbs smoothly pulled the pickup truck into the driveway and parked it. “There is always a lot of work to be done around the house. You’re welcome to stay over anytime you like.”

“What would Hollis say?” Tony asked as he carried the bag of sandwiches into the house.

“She’s gone. Our current life goals do not align.”

Tony smiled. “I know that feeling. It takes a special person to deal with someone who does our job.”

“Yeah. Or someone else that does the same job.”

Tony felt they were both dancing around moving their relationship to a new level. As he set the food out on the table, he waited until Gibbs retrieved a couple of bottles of beer from the refrigerator. After Gibbs placed the open bottles on the table, Tony stood up, leaned over and quickly pressed a kiss against his lips. 

After initially appearing perplexed, Gibbs began smiling. “Okay, we can try. And by the way, check the window.”

Turning around, Tony saw Pip was sitting outside Gibbs’ window. Within seconds, he opened the window, removed the screen and allowed the cat inside. “Pip! How did you find your way here? It’s sure good to see you, however you managed it.” Once he put the screen back in and closed the window, he followed Pip to his water dish and picked him up, hugging him close. “You could sure use a good brushing, Cat,” he said as he carried the feline back into the dining room. After setting him down, Tony removed his collar, then began searching it. “I don’t know if it’s ARES, but Kort apparently stuck something in here.”

“Hope it was worth getting a scratched up face.”

Setting the collar aside, Tony picked up his sandwich. “Should I call him? He should be canned for losing a twenty million dollar system.”

“It could be something else,” suggested Gibbs.

“It could be anything.”

“It could be leverage. Anything you need or want?” Gibbs asked.

“I thought you knew. I just need someone to love,” Tony said suggestively, his eyes meeting Gibbs’. “And, apparently, a green-eyed, super stealthy ninja cat.”

After dinner, Tony made coffee for Gibbs and hot chocolate for himself and brought the mugs to the sofa. Gibbs settled on a movie while Tony got comfortable, covering himself with a warm throw. As the movie began playing, Pip curled up on Tony’s lap and began purring. 

“Yeah,” Tony said as he rested his head against Gibbs’ shoulder, his hand gently petting Pip’s long fur, “this is just about perfect.”

~The End~

© 2019 by Jacie

11/17/2019

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!


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